


Middlemist Red

by mecomptane



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: F/M, Gen, I didn't finish NaNo, I started NaNo, Post-Game(s), That's all she wrote folks, The title refers to the flower not the band, Twenty Years Later, When I love a fandom I never let it go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-26 13:46:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13236990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mecomptane/pseuds/mecomptane
Summary: Twenty years on, the gang gets together on the Anniversary of Eldrant's Fall.





	Middlemist Red

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be the first chapter of my NaNo for 2017, and so Guy spends most of this in his head. Because exposition. And then work got busy, so I never finished NaNo. Alas.

No matter how dangerous, the Pilgrimage to Tattaroo Valley had become something of a tourist attraction. It was touted to be equally as important as the Pilgrimage to Daath--mostly by the Merchants Guild of Chesedonia, because no one sane went to the Valley without an armed escort or a caravan’s worth of weapons and curatives, all of which and more could be purchased in the Trader’s City for a price.

 

A good price, even, since with Daath still in upheaval Chesedonia’s only defence against Malkuth or Kimlasca trying to expand their territory was a fair market. Fair still meant you sometimes had to pay exorbitant prices, but Astor had taken the “You Get What You Pay For” Defence and no one was willing to argue against the Merchant Prince when you really _did_ get what you paid for. As far as Astor (and Din, the little imp) were concerned, if no one found anything to complain to the local government representatives about there was no reason for Malkuth or Kimlasca to stick their noses into Chesedonia’s affairs, and therefore no excuse for them to interfere in the way things were run.

 

Besides, Luke had been well known as a friend to Astor and Din’s patron and supplier both. Twenty years gone, and yet Luke’s presence was still felt as keenly as the day before the attack on Eldrant.

 

The morning market was filled with locals and travellers alike, the former calling out names and prices of their wares while the latter either listened to haggle or hurried on to their next destination. The crowds stuck close to the edge of the streets where the merchant tables were set up, proudly displaying whatever they were hawking and leaving the open space between them free for passersby. Or as free as they could manage--the press of humanity this morning was concentrated on the Kimlascan side, and with so many crammed into such a small space there wasn’t room enough to swing a cat.

 

Not that Guy minded. The crush of people made walking difficult, but it also made it so much easier to avoid notice. He was just one person among hundreds, constantly adjusting his hood and cape not to hide his face but because even this early the sun was so very bright. Or so he commiserated with a merchant when he stopped briefly to grab some panaceas and orange gels.

 

“Aye, pale skin isn’t made for this climate,” the elderly woman agreed, handing him the items while shifting to stand further under her makeshift awning. “Engave is warm and sunny, but not like _this_.”

 

“You’re from Engave?” Guy blinked, carefully dropping the gels into his item bag. Once upon a time Luke had taken care of both shopping and their items--Tear had argued it was teaching him responsibility, Jade had agreed, Anise and Ion hadn’t had an opinion and Natalia hadn’t been around to argue against it--but that was awhile ago. Guy hadn’t travelled much since then, not on his own, so his bag was rarely checked or refilled and there was always the worry that _this_ time would be the time he’d forget which gels and items to put next to each other in case the bag should get damaged and cause something to break.

 

(Apple and lemon gel did not a good combination make, no matter they were both health boosters.)

 

She shrugged, gesturing further down the street where another stall advertising fresh produce was surrounded by customers. “You think me from St. Binah, huh? Not the first. Whole family is from Engave, but my daughter had to go marry a geller from the Citadel. He makes good gels--this’s his work here--but they’re not in demand as much as good, fresh food. So Imal and Frinces handle the busy food stall--”

 

“--and you sell the gels,” Guy finished. “Huh. Well, if it works for you--”

 

“I’m old, boy,” she cut him off with a laugh. “I survived the Lowering, I survived the Qliphoth, and I survived both Hod Wars. It’s time you young kids step up and do something.”

 

If Anise or Natalia were here they’d probably have Words to say to that, but they--and the rest of the group--were already on the Malkuth side. Instead, Guy smiled his most pleasant _Aren’t I Such a Charming and Friendly Man_ smile. He’d never really had the opportunity to use the Nobleman version of it when he was younger, and then years spent as a manservant had forced him to add some humility and submissiveness to it, a slight downturn of the head and a twist of the lips that was almost sheepish. The elder woman smiled back readily--anyone could be charmed by an expression that had saved his job (and life) from a man as strict as Duke Fabre. Well, anyone save for his travelling companions, though that might just be proximity and constant exposure.   “We’ll have to get on that,” he agreed, and waved her goodbye as he stumbled back into the flow of the crowd.

 

The Malkuth side wasn’t nearly as busy, thanks in part to Peony declaring today a National Holiday five years after that last fight against Van, and in part to Astor and Din encouraging the merchants on the Kimlascan side to have blow-out deals and sales today. The few blue-clad guards around either ignored him or nodded differentially, making no effort to bar his way forward. Hod might be long gone but Peony had confirmed Guy in his title and Right as a Noble of Malkuth, which meant he still had _people_. Having people--dependants--meant having a Guard, and a Malkuthian Noble with a Guard was obliged to offer five percent of their Guard to the Emperor to post where They felt necessary. Peony had spontaneously decided some weeks ago that the Guard of House Gardios should be on duty in Chesedonia for the month around the Anniversary. It was a strangely transparent move for the normally opaque Emperor, but that in itself was a message. Guy would forever be grateful to Peony for being the one leader on their side more or less the whole mess of an adventure, but he could do without the reminders that Peony _knew_ and could--would--hold it over them all if need be.

 

Thankfully Jade was there to be liasion and convince Peony that need _not_ be, no matter what Daath may or may not be saying today. Daath. Another problem. Not Guy’s problem thankfully, even with Anise’s poking and prodding. It could be Asch’s problem--should probably _be_ Asch’s problem--but Asch was a problem in and of himself.

 

Asch.

 

Both he and Luke had made promises, both he and Luke had sacrificed everything, been willing to do anything to free Lorelei and stop Van. Guy had been angry--near murderously angry--when he realized what Jade already knew, what the others were just starting to, that night eighteen years ago--because it wasn’t _right_. Maybe Asch _had_ been the Original, but Luke had still been a _person_. They both had been caught up in the middle of that forsaken prophecy, both used as weapons, both determined to set things to rights. Both had _died_.

 

Yet Asch got a second chance at life, and Luke….

 

“Ah, there’s our missing Count Gardios.”

 

Guy Did Not Jump, but he did freeze like a cheagle before a liger.

 

Jade sauntered around him, carefully adjusting his glasses on his nose and doing nothing to hide his distinctive Malkuth Blue military uniform. People were staring, whispering, edging slowly away from the infamous Necromancer. “I trust you have acquired all necessary provisions?”

 

Guy took a deep breath to calm himself down. It was just Jade, no need to worry, Jade couldn’t read minds--probably--and even if he _could_ , Guy wasn’t planning to murder Asch. Again. It might be cathartic, given the frustrations the man caused nearly everyone else on the face of Auldrant, but Natalia would be sad. And Luke--Luke had learnt to live for himself, but he had spent nearly a year of his life feeling guilty for existing, putting Asch’s needs, Asch’s _life_ before his own, and would probably be Very Disappointed in Guy for thinking uncharitable thoughts.

 

...or, more likely, he’d be right there sharing those uncharitable thoughts, but being the first to dissuade everyone else--Guy included--from doing something rash.

 

But, right, Jade was still there. Still looking at him like a particularly interesting piece of Dawn Age tech. With those red, red eyes….

 

“Um, right! Yes, I have. My things. I mean, I bought what I was supposed to.” Over twenty years of knowing the man, the last eighteen in close company care of Peony, and still Jade could unnerve him.

 

Maybe it was Jade’s Titles--most of them actually weren’t creepy, which somehow made the man even more so--but Guy was pretty sure that no one who complained about their age like Jade did should be so physically fit. He still looked in his mid-thirties, not a trace of grey in brown hair, whereas Guy, ten years his junior, was already paler around the temples.

 

Jade raised a careful eyebrow, looking over Guy before gesturing him to follow. “Well then, hurry along. If we’re not back soon, Anise has threatened to hug us.”

 

The downside: Anise’s hugs were more like vice grips. Also, she was Anise, and well, a _she_. Guy had been working on trying to minimize his reaction to female contact, but it was slow going. A hand on the shoulder, or shaking hands, or helping someone up--he could handle that, now. Kissing over a Lady’s hand was slightly more problematic but doable if he had time to prepare himself. But Anise’s hugs? No amount of preparation could help.

 

On the other hand, Anise hugging _Jade_. The Colonel had always had a soft spot for the Former Fon Master Guardian, but--unless Guy was reading things wrong--Anise had developed her own soft spot for Jade. According to Florian, anyway, who had gone so far as to refer to Anise and Jade as _mom_ and _dad_. Guy would be willing to get hugged if it meant getting more information on his old friends. Jade was a steel trap and Anise worked hard to maintain her reputation, meaning any little nougats of information were hard to come by and generally inaccurate rumours when he did hear something.

 

Of course, all of them were in the same boat. Jade as Best Friend and Confidant to Malkuth’s Emperor; Florian as the first in a new line of Fon Masters, even if he was still more a religious figurehead instead of acting the part; Anise, as the _actual_ power behind the new Order of Lorelei, even if well known as such thanks to Tritheim; Natalia, now Queen of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Belkend--which was _another_ Problem that Guy could happily list as Not His. Tear--Mystearica the Yulian, officially a God General and working with Anise and Florian to reform the Order and Daath, though from the military side. Guy himself, Duke Gardios of Fallen Hod, Lord of a People With No Land, one who holds power only through reputation and the respect of his peers. With no land to his name--save for the no-longer so giant hole in the planet’s crust where Hod and Feres once stood--he technically had no source of income to support himself or his people.

 

Which was where Noir and the Dark Wings came in. She still held him responsible for _not_ taking responsibility for his people after Hod’s Fall--she was one of his people, or had been, once upon a time--but she was willing to work with him to provide a safe place and support for everyone who had been cast aside by the Score. Save for their small group no one had survived Akzeriuth, but there had been survivors from both Hod Wars. And, no matter what policies Luke had negotiated his life for, not everyone was accepting of replicas, especially those who lost loved ones only for them to come back from the dead without actually _being_ their loved ones. (Or worse, when the replicas actually _did_ start to become their missing loved ones. Jade had to explain the Big Bang to them when Asch and not Luke returned, which had Implications regarding the nature of the rest of the replicas, especially the ten thousand who sacrificed themselves at the Tower of Rem. ‘Upsetting’ was the word officially being thrown around, but every time they met up and saw Asch looking out through Luke’s eyes, he could identify with those people who had managed to get used to the replica and then had to relearn how to live with the Original.)

 

Thanks to Noir and the Dark Wings, the People of No Land _did_ have a land, and so Guy technically had property, too. Except Nam Cobanda was on Radessia, and the treaty at the end of the First Hod War had given the Radessian Continent to Kimlasca. Natalia being one of their group meant she knew all of that, too, and had Expectations of what Guy should do. As did Peony.

 

Yeah, Guy was happy to let everyone else deal with their own Problems. He was hoping maybe Natalia would take the hint and leave him alone, get distracted by something else that wasn’t the Hod problem. Which was one upside to Asch.

 

Asch fon Fabre, who had technically reclaimed his name but never _used_ it, and who was still sometimes called God General Asch the Bloody. Asch, who had never formally renounced his ties to Daath and the Order of Lorelei, but was very rarely seen anywhere near Padamiya. Asch, who as far as anyone could tell wandered Auldrant without goal or work, and yet was always right where he needed to be in order to settle a dispute or help solve a problem (or Problem--Guy could name a few times where Asch had pulled a Deus Ex Machina even for _him_ ). Asch, who some of the more faithful to Tritheim and the original Order of Lorelei considered to be a god incarnate.

 

Asch, who had made good on his promise and married Natalia, who had helped rebuild as much of Kimlasca as he could, who had fathered three children with her and even stayed around long enough to help raise them (more or less--all three loved their father and he did apparently visit at least once a month, but Asch still teamed up with the Dark Wings and Ginji on occasion, so Guy knew from Noir that the amount of time Asch stayed in Baticul was very, very small compared to how long he _wasn’t_ there).

 

Asch’s wanderings meant Natalia spent a fair bit of time trying to keep track of him, and so between that, her children, and running an entire country, Natalia was generally kept busy. Too busy to annoy Guy about the People of No Land as often as she’d like to, by her own admission.

 

Except it wasn’t all roses--Asch was a good ruler and a good man (Guy had to admit, no matter how reluctantly some days), but he had _earned_ his moniker. People didn’t forget that sort of thing, and in a time where everyone was looking towards building and renovation instead of death and destruction, saying that your King was “The Bloody” wasn’t exactly uplifting for morale. Asch still had the Title--Natalia wouldn’t hear otherwise--but he never used it. Even when he was in Baticul, he was “The Queen’s Husband” or “God General” or, rarely, “Lorelei’s Scion”. Guy didn’t know why Asch refused to be called King, but the smart guess (meaning what Jade had once hinted at) was it had something to do with why Asch refused to use the name Luke.

 

“Oh, Guy! Good, you’re here!”

 

Jade sauntered over to stand beside Florian while Natalia followed up her call with a small, polite wave. Guy returned it, stepping forward to complete their circle, as much as could be with two empty places. “Yeah, sorry. The Kimlascan side was really busy.”

 

“Aw,” Anise pouted, too tall now to pull off the ‘cute’ act but valiantly trying, “Three more minutes and I would have gotten to hug you.”

 

Guy winced. “That’s, uh. Too bad?”

 

Tear and Natalia had already grabbed his Item Bag and were shoving their own purchases inside. “I don’t think we’ll need the Panacea,” Natalia mused as she held it out, “But I guess it would be good to have.”

 

“You never know,” Tear agreed, switching out a Spirit Bangle for her Pendant. “Something else might have moved into the Valley in the last year.”

 

“Hmm… Possible, but unlikely,” Jade finally decreed after a minute of thinking about it. Florian nodded at his side, dressed in a cloak like Guy but with proper travelling clothes underneath instead of the Fon Master’s robes.

 

Anise huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “Well we won’t know that until we get there. So let’s go!”

 

“Or we could delay longer and get there after dark,” Jade offered. Guy considered it--while Tattaroo Valley was dangerous at all times, the creatures that roamed during the day were far more deadly than those at night. Hence why most Guided Pilgrimages--nearly all of them, really--timed it so that the pilgrims got there just as the sun was setting, would stay there for a couple hours, and then turn around and hightail it back to the Chesedonian Road before sunrise again. Camping where the road forked hadn’t been common when they were all travelling, save when they were escorting the refugees from St. Binah to Chesedonia, but there was a small, heavily defended tavern there now.

 

Getting to the Valley after dark meant less danger, but it also meant less time spent there. Guy could see the thought being considered and then dismissed by the others, too. They weren’t going to waste any time, not on this day.

 

“Let’s go now,” Florian offered, already turning towards the gate out of the city. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to see Asch!”

 

Guy tried--and failed--to hide a smile. Anise might be ‘mom’ and Jade ‘dad’, but Asch was kin and kith. If it developed any more Guy would be tempted to call it a crush, but Florian had never expressed such interest in anyone like that. Asch was somewhere between ‘crazy uncle’, ‘role model’ and ‘best friend’, all of which were things Guy never thought he’d think about the God General.

 

Asch--like every year before--had sworn that he would be avoiding Tattaroo Valley like the plague, and yet had sent a message that he was already there and waiting one week ago. What he did for that week before he never volunteered and they never asked, but Guy would put money on working out his frustrations on some of the stronger monsters.

 

The sun was halfway past its zenith by the time they made it to the overlook, the ruins of Eldrant spread out before them in the distance. Closer to them a slash of gold-tinged red was nestled amongst the currently dormant flowers. Selenia bloomed at night, but even during the day they were a wellspring of fonons.

 

Florian cheered the moment he saw his hero. “Asch, hi!” The Ion replica bounced over to Asch, flopping down beside him and obviously resisting the urge to start chattering. “I missed you! It’s been so long--” Mostly resisting.

 

Anise shook her head fondly. “Sorry, Asch. He’s excited.”

 

Asch tilted his head back so he could see the rest of them. Green eyes considered for a moment, then shuttered in resignation as Florian took the silence as permission and started to ramble.

 

Natalia was quick to settle down beside him, folding her legs primly under herself and leaning into her husband’s side. Asch took her hand and gently cradled it, the only acknowledgement of her presence but an acknowledgement all the same. Natalia beamed. Tear very obviously forced herself not to coo at the cute.

 

Guy sighed, looking around. “Guess I’ll go make sure nothing is sneaking up on us.”

 

Asch titled his head back again, holding up a hand to pause Florian. “No need. I secured this area already.”

 

“Oh?” Jade was intrigued. “And how did you manage to do that?”

 

“An arte,” Asch replied, then gestured for Florian to continue, conversation over.

 

Guy shook his head. “Sure, okay. Then I’ll set up camp.” Anything to have something to do. He and Asch weren’t technically on good terms, but they weren’t on _bad_ terms, either. They happened to have a shared group of friends and shared history, and those things very nearly cancelled each other out. Sometimes it was easy camaraderie, and sometimes it was too tense between them for everyone else. Guy was planning on keeping his distance for the next day so that it wouldn’t become the latter.

 

“I’ll help,” Tear murmured, already pulling out cooking implements and bedrolls from the Item Bag.

 

Guy nodded his thanks and set to work, both of them occasionally pausing to participate in the conversation happening not too far away or, more often, to simply look down on Eldrant and wonder.

 

Twenty years ago Asch had died to buy them time, to buy _Luke_ time to free Lorelei. Twenty years ago, Luke had disappeared when Lorelei was freed, when Eldrant and the ruins of Hod collapsed. Twenty years ago, they had all lost one of the most important people in their lives. Even Asch, though reluctantly, had admitted to missing the ‘dreck’.

 

Peony had declared today a holiday, but all the real celebrations in both Kimlasca and Malkuth were happening tomorrow, when the five of them made it back to civilization and gave the report on what happened in Eldrant--the official end to the Hod War. But the real memorial, the real Anniversary, was today. Guy could remember it like he had travelled back in time. Standing almost exactly where he was now, trying to ignore the tremors from behind him, giving in and looking over his shoulder to see the sunset--and a giant pillar of not quite flame, not quite Seventh Fonons streaming into the Fon Belt, parting the clouds and casting the sky in the most brilliant shades of yellow-orange-red that Guy had ever seen.

 

Asch had come back on his birthday, the day that represented the beginning of his life (lives), the day that had marked him as Lorelei’s Scion and heir, the day that had created the life called ‘Luke fon Fabre’ that Asch held so very dear. The one day that Asch had once admitted he had quietly held onto and celebrated as the last vestige of his old life.

 

If there was ever a chance of Luke coming back, too, they figured (or, Jade did and everyone else agreed) that Luke would likely pick a day of equal importance to him. During the seven years in the Manor there hadn’t been any date that really stood out--Guy was sure of that--but during their travels there were so many days that they all guessed might be the one Luke chose. Tear had suggested Akzeriuth--or, specifically, one week later, when Luke had awoken from his enforced sleep and made the first of many promises. Natalia thought it might be shortly before that, when Luke was appointed by her father King Ingobert to go to Akzeriuth, when he was first given permission to leave Baticul, let alone the Manor. A first taste of freedom. Anise thought it might be when Tear had attacked the Manor and spirited Luke away accidentally by their Second Order Hyperresonance.

 

Jade had refused to guess, and Guy couldn’t pin down just one day, one moment that would work.

 

Florian had suggested the Anniversary. As another replica, he had mentioned that every year on this day he could feel the Seventh Fonon stronger than any other day--perhaps Lorelei’s way of celebrating, too--and had decided that if _he_ had sacrificed himself but there was some way for him to come back, he’d choose to do it on a day that feels like Lorelei. Having no other real suggestions--Tear’s, Natalia’s and Anise’s had all been argued into a lose-lose-lose stalemate--they had agreed to get together every year on the Anniversary, to see if maybe this year would be the year.

 

It hadn’t been yet, and Guy somehow doubted it ever would. But Luke had promised Tear--promised all of them--that he’d return. Promises, both making and keeping, were things that both Asch and Luke took very seriously. Asch had found a way to keep his, and even with everything Jade had told them even _he_ thought there was a possibility that Luke might find a way back.

 

Guy groaned, straightening up from setting up the tent--far more comfort than what they had had twenty years ago, most nights. Camping out like this was a younger man’s game--and oh _gods_ he was sounding like Jade.

 

Beside him, he heard Tear shuffle something--and then stop. Guy looked over, seeing her staring wide-eyed at the horizon, the chatter from Florian slowly dying off in the background. Following her gaze, Guy found himself focusing on something in the distance. It hadn’t been there before, he was sure, and it seemed to be getting closer. From what little he could see in the glare from the sunset, the object was mostly coloured black and white--

 

\--and a slash of gold-tipped red.


End file.
